Wednesday, September 20, 2023

BC: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

As summer rolls out and autumn rolls in, here’s a brief look at some of the activities that CLAC, its members, and others have been up to in BC

Guide Magazine

By Kevin Kohut, BC Director

The Good

We were proud to sponsor the Nation2Nation SHE LEADS gathering in Smithers, BC. Miranda Okrane, CLAC workplace wellness coordinator and alcohol and drug case manager, moderated a panel of esteemed Indigenous leaders on the topic of mental health and work-life balance. The event, which featured former member of Parliament the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould as keynote speaker, was geared toward encouraging women to step up to positions of leadership, with an emphasis on the importance of Indigenous relationships and participation.

In healthcare and social services news, all public-sector collective agreements in BC have now been successfully ratified. This affected about 300 Local 501 members in the community social services sector employed by Bethesda Christian Association and Communitas Supportive Care Society.

In construction news, Nason Contracting Group Ltd. began working at the Blackwater Gold project, which is an attractive prospect for 250 members. They began constructing a processing facility in Abbotsford this summer. After many years of delays, it appears that substantive construction on the Woodfibre LNG plant will begin this fall. Local 68 members will perform the civil works, but we are still awaiting confirmation for mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation scopes.

After 16 years in the Fort St. John region, we have closed our member centre and made the decision to move to Kamloops to better serve members. Construction is underway on our new location. We have been honoured to be a part of the Fort St. John community and will continue to provide representation in the region from the new Kamloops location beginning in the late fall.

The Bad

In April 2023, the BC provincial health officer extended the vaccine mandate in specific healthcare sectors indefinitely. This continues to impact Local 501 members working in the assisted living, long term care, and community living sectors.

We met with 85 Local 66 members employed by Ledcor Resources & Transportation who were given the bad news that their divisions will be closing permanently by the end of the summer. Our stewards and bargaining committee managed to ensure a generous closure agreement and severance package that went beyond the collective agreement and the Employment Standards Act and provides up to 16 weeks of pay, along with benefits coverage and support with finding work. We have been working with Ledcor and some of our other signatory companies to help secure employment for those who will be negatively impacted by this closure.

The Ugly

At the time of writing (summer 2023), job action by approximately 7,400 members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union has resumed after a tentative settlement reached with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association was rejected by the membership. The key factors in the dispute are wages, job security, automation, and contracting-out work.

Though the job action does not directly affect CLAC members, the situation effectively shut down the ports and is disrupting up to $775 million per day in trade. If a resolution is not reached soon, it will significantly impact the economy and many workplaces

BC: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

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